The Killers' Brandon Flowers
Photo: John Shearer/ WireImage

The longer Lollapalooza organizers wait to unveil the lineup for this year's festival, the more people will speculate. The Chicago Tribune and Billboard already leaked the news that the Beastie Boys, Depeche Mode, Kings of Leon and Jane's Addiction will be among this year's headliners.

And over the weekend, the Tribune added a few more names to that list: the Killers and Tool, who will reportedly fill out the remaining headliner slots for the three-day festival (August 7-9). Another act the paper says you can count on is the Decemberists, who might play their new concept album, The Hazards of Love, in its entirety, just like they did at South by Southwest.

The story also confirms that punk godfather Lou Reed has been asked to play a late-afternoon/ early-evening greatest-hits set. A spokesperson for the festival would not comment on the latest rumors and reiterated that the official lineup will be released on April 21.

The Tribune isn't the only Chicago paper speculating about the schedule. An article in the city's alt-weekly, the Chicago Reader, took a slightly more scientific approach to the task by looking at the festival's notorious blackout window for artists, which, according to writer Jessica Hopper, can bar an act from playing within 250 miles and 120 days of Lolla.

Using that logic, Hopper reverse-engineered a lineup by figuring out which acts appear to have Chicago-centric holes in their U.S. tours between April and Lollapalooza, or who might have priced out of Pitchfork's rival Chicago festival. On the basis of those parameters, Hopper offered up a possible return from Girl Talk, as well as potential sets from Bon Iver, No Age, Peter Bjorn and John, Animal Collective, Atmosphere, Bat for Lashes, Jason Mraz and Lykke Li. She even speculates that Taylor Swift — who has an apparently open spot on her tour on August 7 — could pop in, as well as hometown heroes Fall Out Boy, M.I.A. (who just confirmed her first post-pregnancy date for Coachella next month), PJ Harvey and maybe Lil Wayne, though he has a gig in nearby Hoffman Estates on April 10, 111 days before the festival.

• MTV News' Headlines Of The Day

• The Killers
• The Decemberists
• Tool
• Lou Reed

Lou Reed and Moby perform at an anti-war benefit in New York Tuesday
Photo: MTV News

BROOKLYN, New York — This week marks the five-year anniversary of the war in Iraq. And in Moby's opinion, the "fireworks show" that rained down on Baghdad five years ago should have never happened in the first place.

"I remember watching it on television and thinking, 'Oh f---, it's begun — and we're gonna be here forever,' " he said at a press conference on Tuesday night prior to "Speak Up: A Benefit Concert for Peace in Iraq and Justice at Home," an anti-war concert that featured short sets from an eclectic lineup including Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Norah Jones, Antony Hegarty, the Scissor Sisters, Blonde Redhead and Damien Rice. "Iraq is the equivalent of a Venus flytrap or shark's mouth — very easy to get in, but not so easy to get out."

His voice was one of many at this sold-out concert at St. Ann's Warehouse, a benefit for Iraq Veterans Against the War and United for Peace and Justice, an anti-war coalition that is organizing nationwide demonstrations this week. The show alternated between musical performances and speakers, and even featured a piece from noted choreographer Bill T. Jones, who used ballet and poetry to tell a story about the hardships of warfare to the somber accompaniment of a solo violinist.

The mood of the concert, which began with a feedback-drenched guitar rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" from Reed, Anderson, Hegarty and Moby, alternated between anger and melancholy.

Recently back from Texas, where he performed at the South by Southwest Conference, Moby told a story about meeting a couple of soldiers there who were spending the weekend on leave.

"They asked me to play this song in memory of their [soldier] friends who just killed themselves," he said somewhat cryptically before launching into "Slipping Away," from his 2005 LP, Hotel.

Earlier in the evening, Norah Jones, seated at a piano on the corner of the stage, played "My Dear Country." "I wrote this song in November of 2004," she told the audience. "Hopefully this year in November I'll feel a little differently."

Laurie Anderson offered up her techno-flavored protest song "Only an Expert," the lyrics of which address the fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. She later accompanied Hegarty on violin.

David Byrne, accompanied by Jones, Rice and two Scissor Sisters, played a set of uptempo new material, and also announced that he is once again collaborating with Brian Eno, who co-produced some of Byrne's seminal work with his former band, Talking Heads.

The Scissor Sisters announced they were adopting a new name for the evening — "Don't Ask Don't Tell." Dressed in a dayglow yellow suit jacket, lead singer Jake Shears sang the disco-inspired "I Don't Feel Like Dancing."

The speakers, many of them journalists (including author/Air America personality Laura Flanders and Nation writer Naomi Klein), talked about a variety of agendas, from anti-globalization to denouncing the Patriot Act to the evils of war profiteering. Many of those who appeared onstage placed as much blame on the media as they did on the Bush administration, although there was little acknowledgement of the role that the blogosphere has played in war coverage.

Antony Hegarty, leader of Antony and the Johnsons, also called out the media, but in a less abrasive tone. He pointed out that while many Americans know that more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers have died in the war, no one knows for sure just how many Iraqi civilians have lost their lives.

"You could Google 'Iraqi casualties' for hours and never come up with a number," Hegarty said. "It's become the job of artists and people on the outside to collect information on what exactly is going on."

The two-hour-plus concert ended with a show of unity, as Reed led the assembled performers in a rendition of "Voices of Freedom." And while no performer had explicitly endorsed a candidate, many alluded to the importance of voting.

"When I went to vote for the [New York] primary, I have to admit, I started to cry," Johnson said earlier that evening. "I felt the weight of the future on my shoulder — and I think a lot of Americans are feeling that way too."

• Lou Reed
• Moby
• Norah Jones
• Talking Heads
• Scissor Sisters

Madonna and Justin Timberlake at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony on Monday
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

NEW YORK — As Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies go, Monday night's didn't seem to promise much controversy, like Van Halen's induction last year or the Sex Pistols' the year before that, unless you consider the induction of dance-pop icon Madonna into the hallowed hall to be scandalous.

And apart from a handful of Eliot Spitzer quips, the evening — which also saw the inductions of John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, the Ventures, the Dave Clark Five, Little Walter and '70s hitmakers Gamble and Huff — didn't have much controversy either. That is, until Madonna opened her mouth.

After an innuendo-filled introduction from Justin Timberlake (during which he lauded Madonna for her "shapely body of work" and for how she's "always been a woman on top" who "fully enjoys that position"), the sinewy singer ascended the stage and thanked seemingly everyone who helped shape her career, from her earliest dancing teachers to the critics who have blasted her over the years, and told her she was "talentless, that I was chubby, that I couldn't sing, that I was a one-hit wonder — they helped me too, because they made me question myself and they pushed me to be better, and I am grateful for their resistance."

(Check out 52 different music videos from Madonna's long and legendary career right here.)

Then, Madonna clarified a story Timberlake told during his introduction. He'd recalled getting an injection of vitamin B12 in the butt from Madonna during recording sessions for her new album. Timberlake said that, during the sessions, he started feeling ill. That's when Madonna proceeded "to pull a Ziploc bag of B12 syringes out [of her purse]." He said she then instructed him to "Drop 'em."

"I don't know what you say to that, so I immediately dropped my pants," he said. "She gave me a shot in my a-- and looks at me and says, 'Nice top shelf.' That was one of the greatest days of my life."

Madonna, however, remembered the incident slightly differently. "Everything he said is basically true, but I didn't say 'Drop 'em.' I said, 'Pull your pants down.' I like to be accurate because you know I am a control freak."

After quoting from the Talmud, she called Timberlake — who'd said, "She became the biggest name on the planet the old-fashioned way: She earned it" — a "f---er." Moments later, she blurted out the word "mother----er" for no discernable reason.

Those words served as a fitting preamble for the punk-paced covers of Madonna songs from a leathery and topless Iggy Pop, who, along with the Stooges, paid tribute to the singer with covers of "Burning Up" and "Ray of Light," during which Pop tossed out an F-bomb. At one point during that performance, the cameras panned to a horrified-looking Clive Davis.

(Check out this backstage footage of Madonna greeting Iggy and the Stooges — including bassist/rabid Madonna fan Mike Watt — after their performance.)

After Pop hobbled offstage, Billy Joel — there to induct his pal John "You'll Always Be the Cougar to Me" Mellencamp — spit out a string of obscenities too, eliciting laughter from an audience that included Chevy Chase, Michael J. Fox, Meg Ryan and even Princess Firyal of Jordan.

The night got off to a much slower start, by comparison. After some opening remarks from Rolling Stone founder and Rock Hall chairman Jann Wenner, legendary R&B singer Patti LaBelle stirred the decked-to-then-nines audience with a towering rendition of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' "If You Don't Know Me By Now," which was written and produced by inductees Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

"You've been touching the world with your music for so many years," LaBelle exclaimed, honoring the team responsible for '70s-era soul hits from Lou Rawls, the O'Jays, Jerry Butler and many others. "You've touched my life. You've done a wonderful thing. Keep on touching, brothers."

Also inducted — posthumously — was legendary blues harmonica player Little Walter, who died in 1968; he joined the hall in its sidemen category, as he was a frequent collaborator of Muddy Waters'. Ben Harper said of Walter, who helped pioneer the use of electronic distortion, that "he defined an instrument, he defined a sound, he defined a genre."

Surf-rock icons the Ventures were inducted next, and followed up the honor by performing two of their biggest hits, "Walk, Don't Run" and the theme from "Hawaii Five-O." John Fogerty, who introduced the Ventures, praised the band for having recorded 250 albums over the course of their career. "Nowadays, some of us would be happy to sell 250 records," he joked, making a reference to the dire state of the music industry.

A pink shirt-sporting Lou Reed strutted onstage to induct revered songwriter Leonard Cohen. His often disjointed tribute to Cohen included a recitation of the genius musician's lyrics — printed out on at least 30 pages Reed pulled from his pocket. "We're so lucky to be alive at the same time Leonard Cohen is," Reed noted, before Damien Rice delivered a rendition of Cohen's "Hallelujah." "This is a very unlikely occasion for me," Cohen, wearing a black tux, admitted. "It is not a distinction that I coveted or even dared dream about. So, I'm reminded of a prophetic statement of [music critic and longstanding Bruce Springsteen manager] Jon Landau in the early '70s. He said, 'I have seen the future of rock and roll and it is not Leonard Cohen.' "

After Madonna's induction and Joel's hilarious introductory speech, Mellencamp — sounding like he'd just downed a shot of molten steel — emerged to claim that "nobody put themselves behind the eight-ball more than I did." He spoke of having surgery when he was just six weeks old, explaining that doctors had worried he'd be paralyzed below the neck. The 56-year-old rocker said he never knew of the surgery until his teen years, when a classmate asked him about the scar behind his neck. "I'm lucky to be standing here for any number of reasons," he said, after snuffing out a cigarette as he mounted the stage.

Last came '60s popsters the Dave Clark Five, whose singer, Mike Smith, died just two weeks ago. Clark admitted it was a bittersweet time for the English group. "We wanted it to be the five of us here, but we know he's smiling down on us, knowing he's a hall of famer," Clark said, adding that he's absolutely delighted that his band's being inducted into the "American" rock hall.

Actor Tom Hanks inducted the band, and told stories about first seeing them on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Finally, Joan Jett, Fogerty and Mellencamp capped off the long night, playing the group's "Bits and Pieces" and "Glad All Over."

• Madonna Takes Over The Rock Hall

• Madonna, Justin Timberlake, More At 2008 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Ceremony
• Madonna: Mother Of Reinvention

• Madonna
• John Mellencamp
• Billy Joel
• Leonard Cohen
• Iggy Pop

Justin Timberlake and Madonna (file)
Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images

Justin Timberlake will induct Madonna into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the organization's March 10 ceremony, a rep for the Hall confirmed to MTV News Tuesday (February 26).

Perhaps Timberlake is returning a favor from his 27th birthday last month, when Madonna presented him with a cupcake and champagne and sang him "Happy Birthday" on the set of the video for her song "4 Minutes to Save the World." The track features JT as well as Timbaland; the two collaborated on several songs for Madonna's forthcoming LP.

Other inductors include Tom Hanks (for '60s group the Dave Clark Five — appropriate because he played the manager of a similar group in the 1996 film "That Thing You Do"), Lou Reed (for folk legend Leonard Cohen), Billy Joel (for John Mellencamp), Ben Harper (for blues harmonica player Little Walter), Jerry Butler (for legendary soul producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff) and John Fogerty (for instrumental group the Ventures).

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony will take place at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel on March 10.

To be eligible for nomination this year, an artist must have issued their first single or album by 1982, which was the year Madonna put out her first dance tune, "Everybody." While no one would confuse her decades of dance-floor anthems with rock and roll, the most successful female artist of all time has had a remarkably strong, nearly three-decade career.

Indiana's John Mellencamp began his career as a generic pop singer named Johnny Cougar in 1976, but over the course of nearly 30 years in music, he has become one of the most thoughtful and respected singer/songwriters of his generation. Initially dismissed as a Bruce Springsteen wannabe, Cougar hit his stride in the early '80s, when he released the rock radio staples "Jack and Diane" and "Hurts So Good." He soon became known for chronicling the plight of the downtrodden American farmer and worker, with such folk-inspired albums as Scarecrow and The Lonesome Jubilee. Along with Neil Young and Willie Nelson, Mellencamp helped found the annual Farm Aid concert benefiting small American farms.

Known for his seriously deep, froggy baritone vocals, Canadian poet/songwriter Leonard Cohen has been recording albums since 1968 in styles ranging from pop to folk and cabaret. His most famous, and most frequently covered, song is the meditative "Hallelujah." One of the most popular bands from the British Invasion of the mid-1960s, the Dave Clark Five rivaled the Beatles for a time in popularity thanks to hits like "Glad All Over." Rock instrumental band the Ventures, founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, are best known for such hits as "Walk Don't Run" and "Hawaii Five-O," as well as their pioneering use of space-age sound effects on some of their recordings, which have made them the biggest-selling rock instrumental group of all time.

Hard-drinking blues player Little Walter died at age 37 in 1968, but not before putting his indelible stamp on the art of mouth-harp playing, including being one of the first blues harmonica players to run his harp microphone through an amplifier, pioneering the use of electronic distortion in popular music.

Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff gave Motown a run for its money in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as they helped to pioneer the Philadelphia soul sound that was the signature of the Philadelphia International label. The production/songwriting team wrote hits for a galaxy of stars, including the O'Jays ("Love Train") and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes ("If You Don't Know Me by Now"). The duo are being inducted in the non-performer category under the newly named Ahmet Ertegun Award, in honor of the late Atlantic Records co-founder.

• Justin Timberlake
• Madonna
• Lou Reed

Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard performs during the mtvU Woodie Awards on Wednesday
Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images

College life is full of difficult choices: Frisbee on the quad or nickel beer night down at Shooters? Sandals or Aquasocks in the dormitory shower? My Chemical Romance or the Arcade Fire for Woodie of the Year?

While the first two dilemmas remain eternally unsolvable, the third was thankfully answered Wednesday night at New York City's Roseland Ballroom, where MCR took home the top prize at the second-annual mtvU Woodie Awards, voted on by college students across America.

Other big-name artists taking home Woodies included Death Cab for Cutie (for the year's best live-action video), the Gorillaz (best animated clip), Fall Out Boy (best tour) and Motion City Soundtrack (best emerging artist). A host of more obscure acts, including grandiose Brit-rockers Muse, pretty indie angst-poppers the Afters and Christian post-punks mewithoutYou also got some Wood.

But the awards took a backseat on a night filled with surprise guests and killer live sets. Legendary rocker Lou Reed kicked off the show, and then passed the mic to the king of character actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who introduced the evening's first performers: spazzy British noisemakers the Go! Team (see "England's Go! Team To Bring Their Sample-Crazy Sound Stateside In October"). Much-buzzed Hasidic reggae performer Matisyahu premiered "Youth," the first single from his upcoming major-label debut (see "My Chemical Matisyahu? Reggae Rapper Hooks Up With Rock Director Webb") and performed a duet with rapper/actor Saul Williams. Roots-approved hip-hop trio Little Brother busted through a tongue-twisting set, and Death Cab closed the evening with a medley of hits both old ("Title and Registration") and new ("Soul Meets Body.")

	Watch this sneak peak of the mtvU 2005 Woodie Awards before it premieres on mtvU Uber on Nov. 9, only on Overdrive.

Other artists making appearances at the Woodie Awards included Aesop Rock, mewithoutYou, the Like, Wu-Tang Clan's RZA and members of the Arcade Fire, Fall Out Boy and Green Day. Voting took place on mtvU.com.

Voting for the 2005 mtvU Woodie Awards took place on mtvU.com. The Woodies will make their debut November 9 on mtvU Über at mtvU.com, and the show will be broadcast the following night to college campuses across the U.S. on mtvU.

The complete list of winners at the 2005 mtvU Woodie Awards:

• Woodie of the Year (Artist of the Year): My Chemical Romance
• The Breaking Woodie (Best Emerging Artist): Motion City Soundtrack
• Left Field Woodie (Most Original Artist): mewithoutYou
• Best Video Woodie -- Live Action (Best Live Action Video): Death Cab for Cutie - "Title & Registration"
• Best Video Woodie -- Animated (Best Animated Video): Gorillaz - "Feel Good Inc."
• The Good Woodie (Greatest Social Impact): U2's DATA: Debt AIDS Trade Africa
• Road Woodie (Best Tour): Fall Out Boy
• International Woodie (Favorite International Artist Award): Muse
• Alumni Woodie (a.k.a. The You're Still OK in Our Book Award): Green Day
• Streaming Woodie (Most Downloaded): The Afters - "Beautiful Love"

• My Chemical Romance
• Death Cab For Cutie
• Fall Out Boy
• Motion City Soundtrack
• Muse

Joey Fatone married his fiancee, Kelly Baldwin, in a private ceremony on Thursday, in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. In attendance were the other four members of 'NSYNC. ...

Despite the many recent paparazzi shots showing Britney Spears barefoot with her clothes falling off, the singer's mother is coming to her defense and insisting that her daughter isn't "trashy." On the singer's Web site, Lynne Spears posted over the weekend that what happened to her superstar daughter (stepping on a floor-length skirt and it pulling down too low) has happened to many girls, but "luckily, there weren't hordes of paparazzi around to capture it in photos." As for Britney's tendency to walk barefoot, even in public restrooms, Lynne said that her daughter is under doctor's orders "to wear Uggs or tennis shoes and it's just too hot for that." "I guess it's easy to find these 'flawed' human moments when there's 10-14 cars of paparazzi documenting your every move," she wrote. "My daughter is not one that is going to give into the pressures of dressing up every single day in order to impress the paparazzi vultures that await her outside ... Britney always lets all of this roll off her back and not care about what they say." ...

Simon Fuller, the creator of "American Idol" and its British predecessor "Pop Idol," has sued the creators of the U.K.'s new talent contest "The X Factor," including notorious "Idol" judge Simon Cowell and "Idol" co-producers Fremantle Media. Fuller made the copyright-infringement and breach-of-contract charges after viewing the show's first episode Saturday. In a statement, Cowell and Freemantle insisted the shows are different, and said that although they hope to resolve the matter amicably, they are willing to defend themselves in court. "The X Factor," which features Cowell and Sharon Osbourne among the judges, began similarly to "Idol" but will later find the judges pitted against each other as they coach certain contestants. Cowell is still scheduled to be a judge on Fuller's "American Idol" when it returns in January. ...

It looks like Gwen Stefani's upcoming solo album has a name after all. Though she first planned to title it What You Waiting For?, she's now calling it Love Angel Music Baby, four words whose initial letters spell "LAMB," the name of her clothing line, her rep confirmed. The first single, "What You Waiting For?," was written with Linda Perry and produced by Nellee Hooper, and the video was shot by Francis Lawrence. ... An unauthorized version of the Streets song "Dry Your Eyes," featuring Coldplay singer Chris Martin, has found its way to several Internet sites and radio stations across the country, prompting the British rapper's management to issue a statement denouncing the leak. "We have no idea how anyone heard it outside of the closest people to both bands and aren't particularly pleased," they said, clearly upset that a song featuring one of the world's most recognizable pop voices would create a buzz on their artist in the U.S. ...

Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme is temporarily leaving the Eagles of Death Metal, the side band he drums in under the alias Carlo Von Sexron. In a cryptic letter posted on www.qotsa.com, Homme said he was being replaced by sometime Homme-collaborator Joey "Sexy Mexy" Castillo on the group's upcoming West Coast tour. According to a band spokesperson, Homme hopes to return as the Eagles' "sleazy manager." ... Frank Black, who was known as Black Francis during the Pixies' initial tenure more than a decade ago, is releasing a double-disc collection of Pixies-related tunes. Due October 12, Frank Black Francis will feature one disc of 15 pre-Pixies demos and another of 13 new versions of Pixies classics re-recorded with Andy Diagram and Keith Moline of Two Pale Boys. Black also has the acoustic Honeycomb, a record he made in Nashville with several noted session musicians, due later this year. ...   The Backstreet Boys have designated the Special Olympics to be the charity benefiting from the band's concert in Beijing on September 24. The boy band will donate a portion of the ticket sales to Special Olympics International, which will use the funds to support educational-related initiatives in Beijing. ... "Did Korn inspire you to be who you are today?" That's what the bandmembers want fans to tell them to help promote their upcoming Greatest Hits album. Fans in the Los Angeles area are eligible to appear in a TV spot advertising the release by sending an e-mail to kornstory@hotmail.com describing how Korn's music influenced, inspired or helped them "connect with someone important." Check out the band's official site for details. ...

Modest Mouse have finalized their All Tomorrow's Parties festival lineup. Lou Reed, the Walkmen, Explosions in the Sky, Sufjan Stevens, White Hassle and others will join previously announced performers the Flaming Lips and the Shins at the two-day alternative festival November 6-7 in Long Beach, California. ... Motörhead are canceling their U.S. tour, which was scheduled to start this month, due to a foot injury suffered by frontman Lemmy Kilmister when he was touring Europe a month ago. Kilmister had originally ignored the pain and went against his doctor's recommendation by completing that summer festival tour, but it made the injury worse and his doctor is now insisting that he stay off his foot for several weeks. Motörhead will return for a U.S. tour in March. ...

Red Hot Chili Peppers' John Frusciante has set an October 26 release date for Inside of Emptiness, the fourth of the six albums he plans to release this year. The third, produced by Ian MacKaye, is due Tuesday. ...

9.10.2004

Blink-182 are lending a tattooed helping hand to Tony Hawk. On October 6, the band will play a benefit show for Stand up for Skateparks, a charity that builds skate parks for kids in low-income communities. The concert is just part of an afternoon-long fund-raiser for the Tony Hawk Foundation, Stand up for Skateparks' sponsor. The event will be held at the Pinz Bowling Alley in Studio City, California. Tickets start at $500. In other Blink news, they're scheduled to appear September 17 at the mtvICON tribute to the Cure. The event, hosted by Marilyn Manson, will take place in London. ...

It's Modest Mouse's party and they'll bring the indie-rockers if they want to. Despite some minor setbacks last year, the All Tomorrow's Parties festival has rallied and the Pacific-Northwest rockers are curating the event. Set for November 6 and 7 in Long Beach, California, Modest Mouse will headline the first night while the Flaming Lips and the Shins will perform the following day. Many more bands are expected to be announced. ... Kid Rock and Staind will top the bill at the 11th annual Bocktoberfest on October 16 at the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas, home of the Lone Star State's very own Shiner Bock. Nickelback played the festival last year. ...

While recording "Lonely This Christmas" for the soundtrack to the '60s remake "Alfie," Joss Stone shared some studio time with a Rolling Stone. Stone and Mick Jagger covered the song, a hit single for glam rockers Mud in 1974. Stone also recorded a cover of the movie's title track, which was written by pop purveyors Burt Bacharach and Hal David. ... New Found Glory, Something Corporate and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones are among the bands banging out Christmas-themed tunes for A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas. A portion of the proceeds from the compilation, due November 2, go to the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. ...

A Perfect Circle's next album, eMOTIVe, is due on Election Day, November 2. To fit with the LP's political positioning, it features 10 covers of civic-minded tunes such as John Lennon's "Imagine," Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding," Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and Black Flag's "Gimme Gimme Gimme." A video for one of the two new songs on the album, "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums," is posted on the band's Web site. Later in November, APC will release their remix/DVD album, aMOTION. ...

October 20 begins Helmet's comeback tour in support of their first album in seven years, Size Matters. The trek, which kicks off in Vancouver, British Columbia, dips into the United States before heading eastward to wrap November 10 in Toronto. ... It's been awhile since we've heard from Powerman 5000, but that's all about to change. On October 26, the band will release The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Vol. 1, a collection of B-sides and rarities recorded between 1991 and 1996. They've also got three new songs on the soundtrack to the wrestling video game "WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw." And Powerman promise a new studio album in early 2005. ...

After vacating the ranks of Mushroomhead, his band for the last dozen years, J. Mann has launched Fractured Transmitter. The imprint's first release will be an EP which contains a solitary 21-minute song, "I," by Swedish metal weirdos Meshuggah. It's due September 14. ... Celestial electronic outfit M83 are down a man. Now solely guitarist Anthony Gonzalez, the project's third album, Before the Dawn Heals Us, is due January 25. The lead single will be the track "Don't Save Us From the Flames." The French artist will begin his inaugural North American tour, backed by a three-piece band, on Monday in Philadelphia. ...

• *NSYNC
• Britney Spears
• No Doubt
• Coldplay
• Lou Reed

Usher (file)
Photo: Arista

Get ready for revenge of the N.E.R.D. This week, super-producers the Neptunes put the spotlight on their rock outfit, N.E.R.D. Their second album, Fly or Die, features the single "She Wants to Move" and a guest appearance by Good Charlotte's Benji Madden on "Jump."

Next up is Usher's Confessions. The hit "Yeah!" features cameos by Ludacris and Lil Jon, but the album isn't all good times. Usher gets dark on "Confessions Part II," "Burn" and "Caught Up."

Eagles of Death Metal, the hard-rock band featuring Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme's drumming alter ego, Carlo Von Sexron, release Peace Love Death Metal this week alongside the Vines' new one, Winning Days. On the follow-up to the ubiquitous Highly Evolved, frontman Craig Nicholls noisily expresses touching sentiments like "F--- the World."

As we all know by now, Now That's What I Call Music! puts popular current hits on one album. The 15th edition features "Toxic" by Britney Spears, "Holidae In" by Chingy, "I Don't Want You Back," by Eamon and "With You" by Jessica Simpson. In other compilation news, Ruben Studdard and Simple Plan appear on the "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" soundtrack.

Two live classic-rock double-disc sets will be released this week. The Allman Brothers Band's One Way Out was recorded at the Beacon Theater in New York, and Lou Reed's Animal Serenade was taped at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.

Cypress Hill's Till Death Do Us Part finds the rappers waxing poetic about their favorite subject on such songs as "Ganja Bus" and "Bong Hit." Meanwhile, ethereal Alpha go Stargazing and Carl Thomas says Let's Talk About It. If he meant the rest of the new releases, he's onto something.

Out Tuesday, March 23:

• 7 Sons of Soul - 7 Sons of Soul (Verity)
• Allman Brothers Band - One Way Out (Peach/Sanctuary)
• Ben Arthur - Edible Darling (Bardic)
• Avion - Avion (Console/Image Entertainment)
• Bonnie Prince Billy - Greatest Palace Music (Drag City)
• Blockhead - Music by Cavelight (Ninja Tune)
• Borialis - What You Thought You Heard (Capitol)
• Joyce Cooling - This Girl's Got to Play (Narada Jazz)
• Cypress Hill - Till Death Do Us Part (Columbia)
  Buy Now: Till Death Do Us Part (Columbia)
  
• Angel Dean & Sue Garner - Pot Liquor (Diesel Only)
• Descendents - Cool to Be You (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Die Form - InHuman (Metropolis)
• Cara Dillon - Sweet Liberty (Sanctuary/Rough Trade)
• Wasis Diop - Everything Is Never Quite Enough (Artemis)
• DJ Sh--bird/Revenge - Welcome to the Party (Narnack)
• Eagles of Death Metal - Peace Love Death Metal (Ant Acid Audio/Rekords Rekords)
  Read: "Queens Frontman Takes Passenger Seat In Eagles of Death Metal"
• Eyedea and Abilities - E&A (Epitaph)
• Lorraine Feather - Such Sweet Thunder (CMC Int'l/Sanctuary)
• Mimi Fox - She's the Woman (Favored Nations)
• Eliza Gilkyson - Land of Milk and Honey (Red House)
• Sarah Harmer - All of Our Names (Zoë/Rounder)
• Joni Harms - Let's Put the Western Back in the Country (Wildcatter)
• RJ Helton - Real Life (Jive)
• Honeydogs - 10,000 Years (United Musicians)
• Ellis Hooks - Uncomplicated (Artemis)
• The Hurt Process - Drive by Monologue (Victory)
• Hyper - Wired (Thrive)
• Iron and Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days (Sub Pop)
• Jackass - Plastic Jesus (BYO)
• The Kite-Eating Tree - Method: Fail, Repeat (Cowboy Versus Sailor/Suburban Home)
• Bernie Leadon - Mirror (Really Smart)
• Leftover Salmon - Leftover Salmon (Compendia)
• Levinhurst - Perfect Life (Full Contact)
• Lowgold - Welcome to Winners (Sanctuary)
• Madison Park - Boutique (BasicLux)
• Ian McLagan & the Bump Band - Rise & Shine (Gaff)
• James McMurtry - Live in Aught — Three (Compadre/RED)
• Bruce Molsky - Contented Must Be (Rounder)
• David Lee Murphy - Tryin' to Get There (Audium)
• N.E.R.D. - Fly or Die (Virgin)
  Read: "N.E.R.D. Step Up Their Game On Fly Or Die, Reminisce About Teen Years"
  Buy Now: Fly or Die (Virgin)
• Andy Narell - The Passage (Heads Up)
• Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender (Drag City)
• Onelinedrawing - Volunteers (Jade Tree)
• Panurge - Throw Down the Reins (Nettwerk America)
• Particle - Launchpad (Or Music)
• Pastor Troy - By Any Means Necessary (Universal)
• The Rasmus - Dead Letters (Interscope)
• Jon Rauhouse - Steel Guitar Rodeo (Bloodshot)
• Lou Reed - Animal Serenade (Reprise)
• The Riddler - Dance Mix NYC 5 (Tommy Boy)
• Curtis Salgado - Strong Suspicion (Shanachie)
• Langhorne Slim - Electric Love (EP, Narnack)
• Smugglers - Mutiny in Stereo (Lookout!)
• Soil - Redefine (J)
• The Standard - Wire Post to Post (Yep Roc)
• Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band - Tour 2003 (Koch)
• Start Trouble - Every Solution Has Its Problem (Columbia)
• Sticks and Stones - Shed Grace (Thrill Jockey)
• The Hiss - Panic Movement (Sanctuary)
• Carl Thomas - Let's Talk About It (Bad Boy)
• Nestor Torres - Sin Palabras (Heads Up)
• Usher - Confessions (Arista)
  Read: "Usher Lets Skeletons Out Of The Closet On Confessions"
  Buy Now: Confessions (LaFace)
• Vines - Winning Days (Capitol)
  Read: "Vines Saddle Up And 'Ride' To End Of The World"
  Buy Now: Winning Days (Capitol)
  
• Peter White - Confidential (Columbia)
• Widespread Panic - Night of Joy (Sanctuary)
• Wumpscut - Bone Peeler (Metropolis)
• Various artists - Bring You to Your Knees: A Tribute to Guns N' Roses (Law of Inertia)
• Various artists - Now That's What I Call Music! 15 (Capitol)
• Various artists - "The Punisher" soundtrack (Wind-Up)
• Various artists - "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" soundtrack (Warner Bros.)
• Various artists - Sing Along with Putumayo (Putumayo)
• DVD: Harry Connick Jr. - Only You (Columbia)
• DVD: Andy Cooper - Hot Jazz Festival (Music Video Distributors)
• DVD: Iggy and the Stooges - Live in Detroit 2003 (Music Video Distributors)
• DVD: Kelly Osbourne - Live at the Electric Ballroom (Sanctuary)
• DVD: Switchfoot - Live in San Diego (Columbia)

March 30:

• Aerosmith - Honkin' on Bobo (Sony)
  Read: "Aerosmith Blues Album Inspired By Bike Crashes And Funny Phrases"
• Bob Dylan - Bootleg Series 6: Concert at Philharmonic Hall (Sony)
• Janet Jackson - Damita Jo (Virgin)
  Read: "Janet Jackson Making Sexiest Album Yet, Producer Says"
  Buy Now: Damita Jo (Virgin)
• Various artists - Music From "The O.C." Mix 1 (Warner Bros.)

April 6:

• Barry Manilow - 2 Nights Live (BMG)
• Paul Oakenfold - Greatest Remixes (Topaz)
• Tamia - Still (Elektra)

April 13:

• Various artists - "Kill Bill 2" soundtrack (Maverick)

April 20:

• Hanson - Underneath (3CG)

May 4:

• Kimberley Locke - One Love (Curb)
  Read: " 'American Idol' Finalist Kimberley Locke Is Radio's '8th Wonder'"

• Usher
• N.E.R.D.
• Eagles Of Death Metal
• Cypress Hill
• The Vines

Crystal Method's <i>Legion of Boom</i>
Photo: V2 Records

The Crystal Method's Legion of Boom features ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland on "Weapons of Mass Distortion." Other guests such as Milla Jovovich ("I Know It's You") and the Roots' human beatbox, Rahzel ("American Way"), appear on the album as well.

Oh! From the Girls is a compilation from the Oxygen network that features songs by Avril Lavigne, Dido, Tori Amos, Macy Gray, Aimee Mann, Sarah McLachlan, Stacie Orrico and the Pretenders.

Lou Reed's Bataclan 72 is a live album from a show with John Cale and Nico recorded in Paris in 1972.

Finally, WWE Originals includes such classics as "Where's the Beer?" by Stone Cold Steve Austin, "I Don't Suck (Really)" by Kurt Angle and "Put a Little Ass on It" by Rikishi.

Out Tuesday, January 13:

• Ahvak - Ahvak (Cuneiform)
• Chava Alberstein - End of the Holiday (Rounder)
• Amici Forever - The Opera Band (RCA Victor)
• Bingo - The Cicada and Other Stories (Cravedog)
• Brian Bromberg - Choices (A440)
• Jimmy Buffett - Live in Cincinnati (Mailboat)
• Barbara Carr - Talk to Me (Mardi Gras)
• Claudia Quintet - I, Claudia (Cuneiform)
• The Crystal Method - Legion of Boom (V2)
• Joey DeFrancesco - Plays Sinatra His Way (HighNote)
• Joel Frahm with Brad Mehldau - Don't Explain (Palmetto)
• Achille Gajo Trio - Blue Sand (Piadrum)
• Guapo - Five Suns (Cuneiform)
• Holmes Brothers - Simple Truths (Alligator)
• The Honorary Title - The Honorary Title (EP)
• Jamie Hoover & Bill Lloyd - Paparazzi (Paisley Pop)
• Keren - Gone (Big Pea & a Dime)
• Habib Koité & Bamada - Fôly! Live Around the World (World Village)
• Laika and the Cosmonauts - Local Warming (Yep Roc)
• Brennen Leigh - Lonesome, Wild & Blue (Barking Dog)
• Lucky Dube - The Other Side (Heartbeat)
• Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath - Bremen to Bridgwater (Cuneiform)
• Mr. T Experience - Yesterday Rules (Lookout!)
• Kenny Neal and Billy Branch - Double Take (Alligator)
• Nerissa & Katryna Nields - This Town Is Wrong (Rounder)
• The New Original Sonic Sound - The New Original Sonic Sound (Book)
• David Newman - Song for the New Man (HighNote)
• Shane Nicholson - It's a Movie (Virt)
• Peligro - Sum of Our Surroundings (Dirrty)
• Richard Pinhas - Tranzition (Cuneiform)
• Lou Reed - Bataclan 72 (Pilot)
• Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana - Spirit Dome (Projekt)
• Kate Rusby - Underneath the Stars (Compass)
• Skrape - Up the Dose (RCA)
• Sons of Champlin - Secret (Sons of Champlin)
• Eddie Spaghetti - The Sauce (Mid-Fi)
• Mike Stern - These Times (ESC)
• Tanglefoot - Captured Alive (Borealis)
• Volebeats - Country Favorites (Turquoise Mountain/Rainbow Quartz)
• Matthew West - Happy (Universal South)
• Zao - Legendary (Solid State)
• Miguel Zenón - Ceremonial (Rounder/Marsalis Music)
• Various artists - Drum Nation, Volume 1 (Magna Carta)
• Various artists - Oh! From the Girls (Nettwerk)
• Various artists - "Pixel Perfect" soundtrack (Walt Disney)
• Various artists - "Teacher's Pet" (Walt Disney)
• Various artists - This Is Trance! (Water Music)
• Various artists - WWE Originals (DMZ/Soundtrax)
• DVD: Rammstein - Lichtspielhaus (Republic/Universal)

January 20:

• Cee-Lo - Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine (Arista)
• Ani DiFranco - Educated Guess (Righteous Babe)

January 27:

• Stereolab - Margerine Eclipse (Elektra)

• The Crystal Method
• Lou Reed
• Jimmy Buffett
• Tori Amos
• Avril Lavigne

Although the Smashing Pumpkins packed it in a few years ago, that was far from frontman Billy Corgan's swan song. It did, however, make way for his Zwan songs. With the help of fellow rockers Dave Pajo (Slint, Tortoise), Matt Sweeney (Chavez, Skunk), Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle) and Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlain, Mary Star of the Sea was born. (Check out Zwan's music at MTV.com First Listen.)

You'll be more mixed up than Kay Slay after the rest of this week's new releases shout-outs. The batch features one compilation after the next, starting with Erasure's '80s-infused interpretation of Other People's Songs. Can you say "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley, "Everyday" by Buddy Holly, and "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles? Andy Bell can.

Next up is Lou Reed's dark mixed set, The Raven, which was inspired by the writings of horror master Edgar Allen Poe. David Bowie and Steve Buscemi are among the stars who contribute their voices to the album, which is filled with a seamless blending of Poe's poems and stories with Reed's, and also includes a new version of "Perfect Day."

Dirty Vegas' Night at the Tables features the group's own music, plus songs by the likes of dance and trance well-knowns Frankie Knuckles, Kylie Minogue and Underworld, while N.V.A. Straight From the Crates Vol. 1 houses new tracks by Mos Def, Black Moon, the Pharcyde and Jurassic 5. Finally, Papa Roach and N.E.R.D. team up for the "Biker Boyz" soundtrack, which also includes cuts from Jadakiss featuring Ron Isley, Redman featuring E3, and Metallica, Ja Rule and Swizz Beatz.

Now let's get the rest of these albums in the mix.

Out Tuesday, January 28:

• 4 Way Street - 4 Way Street (Sliced Bread)
• A Static Lullaby - Don't Forget to Breathe (Ferret)
• Acousticsol - Acousticsol (Pure and Simple)
• Apocalypse Theater - Lost in America (Underground Inc)
• Backdraft - Here to Save You All (Abstract)
• A Band of Bees - Sunshine Hit Me (Wall of Sound/Astralwerks)
• Blackstreet - No Diggity: The Very Best of Blackstreet (Interscope)
• Boils - Ripping Waters (EP, Thorp)
• Brainstorm - Funky Entertainment (Capitol)
• Butthole Surfers - Butthole Surfers/Live Pcppep (Latino Bugger Veil)
• Claude Challe - Near Eastern Lounge from the R.E.G. Project (Virgin)
• Steven Curtis Chapman - All About Love (EMD)
• Richard Clayderman & Rahul Sharma - The Confluence (Narada)
• Click - Gently Unraveling (Fowl)
• Colorform - Send Forth Your Soul (Synchronic)
• Contempt - Secret Around Us (World War III)
• Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban - Mambo Sinuendo (Nonesuch/Perro Verde)
• Chris Cutler - Solo (ReR)
• Stefano Di Battista - Round About Roma (Blue Note)
• Kasse-Mady Diabate - Kassi Kasse: Music From the Heart (Narada World)
• Dirty Vegas - Night at the Tables (Ultra)
  Buy Now: Night at the Tables (Ultra)
• Dogwood - Seismic (Tooth & Nail)
• Erasure - Other People's Songs (Mute)
• Eternal Gray - Kindless (The End)
• Stephen Fearing - That's How I Walk (Shawn Colvin guests) (Philo/Rounder)
• Furthermore - She and I (Tooth & Nail)
• G-Wiz - Just Like You (Orpheus)
• Grave - Back From the Grave (Century Music)
• Benny Green and Russell Malone - Jazz at the Bistro (Telarc Jazz)
• Fred Hersch - Live at the Village Vanguard (Palmetto)
• Randy Howard - I Rest My Case (Sugar Hill)
• Human League - Dare/Love & Dancing (Caroline)
• Human League - Reproduction (Caroline)
• Human League - Travelogue (Caroline)
• K-OS - Exit (Astralwerks)
• Kid Brother Collective - Highway Miles (One Day Savior)
• Kill Pill - Outside These City Walls (Uprising)
• Sonny Landreth - The Road We're On (Sugar Hill)
• Adrian Legg - Guitar Bones (Favored Nations Acoustic)
• Loose Fur - Loose Fur (Drag City)
• Jesse Malin - The Fine Art of Self-Destruction (Artemis)
• Midtown, Recover, and Blue Medic - New Old Rare (Fueled by Ramen)
• The Monkees - Live Summer Tour (King Biscuit)
• Mul-Ty - Made 4 Love (Universal)
• David Murray Latin Big Band - Now Is Another Time (Justin Time)
• Mutiny UK - In the Now (System)
• Bob Neuwirth - Bob Neuwirth (Water)
• Aaron Neville - Believe (EMI Gospel)
• Nightingale - Alive Again (The End)
• Nightmares on Wax - Carboot Soul (Warp)
• Oingo Boingo - Boi-ngo (MCA)
• Old Friends Quartet - Feelin' Fine (EMD)
• Original Fierce - Fierce Factor (American)
• Pigface - Easy Listening (Underground Inc)
• Poww Brothers - Faithful (Orpheus)
• Pressure - Anthem (EP, Uprising)
• Pretty Girls Make Graves - Pretty Girls Make Graves (EP, Dim Mak)
• Project Rocket - New Years Revolution (Uprising)
• Flora Purim - Speak No Evil (Narada Jazz)
• Raunchy - Velvet Noise (Nuclear Blast)
• Lou Reed - The Raven (Sire/Reprise)
  Read: "Lou Reed's Obsession With Edgar Allan Poe Spawns The Raven"
• Rock Kills Kids - Rock Kills Kids (Fearless)
• Rondellus - Sabbatum (medieval tribute to Black Sabbath, The Music Cartel)
• Scene Creamers - I Suck on That Emotion (Drag City)
• ScoLoHoFo - Oh! (Blue Note)
• Mark Selby - Dirt (Vanguard)
• Virgil Shaw - Still Falling (Future Farmer)
• The Snowdogs - Deep Cuts, Fast Remedies (Victory)
• Somehow Hollow - Busted Wings and Rusted Halos (Victory)
• Souls of Mischief - Spark (Chocolate Industries)
• Stakker - Eurotechno (Rephlex)
• Steel Train - For You My Dear (EP, MCA)
• Storm - Unpredictable Amalgamation (Orpheus)
• Summer at Shatter Creek - Summer at Shatter Creek (Absolutely Kosher)
• Sweet Honey in the Rock - The Women Gather (EarthBeat!)
• Swimmingpool - Anything That Doesn't Move (Combination)
• Teena Marie - Irons in the Fire (MCA)
• Danny Tenaglia - Choice (Ultra)
• Underwater - Bleed Me Blue (Tribunal)
• Cheryl Wheeler - Different Stripe (Philo/Rounder)
• Zwan - Mary Star of the Sea (Reprise)
  Read: "Billy Corgan In Search Of Personal 'Jesus' On Zwan Debut"
  Buy Now: Mary Star of the Sea (Reprise)
• Various artists - Absolute Body and Soul (Time Life)
• Various artists - Astro Bar (Water Music)
• Various artists - Back to the Future 80s (Topaz)
• Various artists - Bare Essentials, Vol. 2 (Naked/Astralwerks)
• Various artists – "Biker Boyz" soundtrack (DreamWorks)
  Read: "Papa Roach, Neptunes Team Up For 'Biker Boyz' Soundtrack"
• Various artists - Bodega Lounge (Ark 21)
• Various artists - Electricity - An Electropop Sampler Volume Two (Ninthwave)
• Various artists – "The Guru" soundtrack (Universal)
• Various artists - High Times Presents: Rip This Joint (Uni/Win)
• Various artists - Hit the Breaks (Radikal)
• Various artists – "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" soundtrack (Virgin)
• Various artists - "Les Miserables" highlights (Decca)
• Various artists - Mixdown (ForeFront)
• Various artists - More Music from "Coyote Ugly" (Curb)
• Various artists – "Movern Callar" soundtrack (Warp)
• Various artists – N.V.A: Straight from the Crates Vol. 1 (Avatar)
• Various artists – "Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey" soundtrack (Six Degrees)
• Various artists - Pure 80s Love: The #1 Hits (Universal)
• Various artists – "The Recruit" soundtrack (Varese Sarabande)
• Various artists - Sourcelabs (Source)
• Various artists – "Two Weeks Notice" soundtrack (Varese Sarabande)
• DVD D.I.Y. or Die: How to Survive as an Independent Artist (Music Video Distributors)
• DVD Manu Chao - Babylonia en Guagua (Virgin)
• DVD Natalie Cole - Ask a Woman Who Knows (Hip-O)
• DVD Midge Ure - Rewind: The Greatest Hits Tour (Eagle Eye/Pioneer)

February 4:

• Jars of Clay - Furthermore: From the Studio to the Stage (BMG)
• Pet Shop Boys - Disco 3 (EP, Sanctuary)
• Various artists - "Daredevil" soundtrack (Wind-Up)

• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Nocturama (Epitaph)
• Massive Attack - 100th Window (Virgin)
• John Mayer - Any Given Thursday (Sony)
• Various artists - We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to the Ramones (Sony)

• R. Kelly - Chocolate Factory (Jive)

• Third Eye Blind - Crystal Baller (Elektra)

• Zwan
• Lou Reed
• Dirty Vegas
• Blackstreet
• Erasure

Lou Reed
Photo: MTV News

Former Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed can be a pretty scary dude. He's the kind of guy who would yell at you from his bedroom window if you walked across his lawn, and over the years he's developed a reputation for being publicly gruff, abrupt and confrontational.

Of course, when you've already sung about heroin users, transvestites and murderers, and created a symphony of electronic noise when Trent Reznor was still in grade school, it's pretty hard to keep frightening your fans — which may be why Reed has turned to classic horror author Edgar Allan Poe for inspiration.

On January 28, Reed will release the double CD The Raven, a multifaceted presentation of the works of Poe, which features a combination of new rock songs, dramatized Poe stories and harrowing noises that sound like they were culled from a Halloween sound effects record.

Reed wasn't always a Poe fanatic. As a kid, he read "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Raven," but he wasn't sold on the 19th Century writer until about five years ago when he agreed to read Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart" at a Halloween extravaganza hosted by producer Hal Willner.

"That's when I first really understood Poe — reading him out loud," Reed recalled last month. "For me, that was amazing and I became really, really interested in Poe."

That interest blossomed into obsession, and in 2000, Reed and experimental director Robert Wilson debuted the musical theater piece "POEtry," which opened in Hamburg, Germany, and was re-staged in Brooklyn, New York, in 2001.

"Poe is that most classical of American writers — a writer more peculiarly attuned to our new century's heartbeat then he ever was to his own," wrote Reed on his Web site. "Obsessions, paranoia, willful acts of self-destruction surround us constantly, [so] when given the opportunity to bring him to life through words and music ... I surged towards it like a rottweiler chasing a bloody bone."

The production only fueled Reed's penchant for Poe, so he and Wilson decided to create The Raven, which expands on the ideas presented in "POEtry."

"It's been re-written so it's a record," Reed said. "It's not a copy of a play that you need to see. We loved the play. We thought it was really cool and we thought, 'Wouldn't it be fun to make this something you could listen to?' Instead of going to a movie for two hours, you could bring this thing home for two hours."

As in "POEtry," Reed has painstakingly rewritten the prose of Poe and presented it in a context easier for a contemporary audience to grasp.

"If you sit down and read Poe, you sit down and read him with a dictionary," Reed said. "He's an amazing scholar with words, but a lot of these words were very obscure in the first place when he used them. So I looked all of them up and brought all of them up to date so we would know what he's talking about. And I wrote to sound like him. If you knew nothing about Edgar Allan Poe, never read him, never heard of him, you would do fine with this record."

Reading the stories and poems on The Raven is a celebrity-filled cast including Willem Dafoe, Steve Buscemi and Amanda Plummer.

"Working with Willem and Steve is about as much fun as you can legally have," Reed said. "Having them act out your words is fantastic. They're professional actors and I was lucky to have them. They were really doing me a favor. They said they were fans of mine, thank God, so it worked out really great."

In addition to working with star actors, Reed recruited a roster of gifted musicians including David Bowie, folk duo Kate and Anna McGarrigle, his wife Laurie Anderson and gospel pop group Five Blind Boys of Alabama. As excited as he was to reunite with Bowie, who sang on and produced Reed's 1972 album Transformer, Reed was even more thrilled to record with avant-garde jazz legend Ornette Coleman.

"He's been an idol of mine ever since I heard him in the '60s," Reed said. "I used to follow him around from jazz club to jazz club, so when finally we got Ornette in there, that was a very big deal for me."

The Raven might just awaken a new generation of youth to the imagery and creativity of Poe. If so, that's great, but that's not why Reed undertook the project.

"I just wanted to have a good time," he said. "That's always been my motivation. I've always thought of rock as a very freeing thing. I feel really great when I'm doing it and listening to it, dancing to it, playing it. I really like that. I wanna have fun, that's it. I don't wanna work. And I've gotten away with it so far."

• Lou Reed

Woodie Awards Biggest and Brightest Moments

• Moby
• Emmanuel Jal
• Debbie Harry
• Mark Hoppus
• Q-Tip

Woodie Awards 2005 Winners and Presenters

• Lou Reed
• Death Cab For Cutie
• Muse
• Coheed and Cambria
• Mewithoutyou

Best of 2006: Live Performances Highlights

• Christina Aguilera
• AFI
• Gnarls Barkley
• My Chemical Romance
• Lady Sovereign

DiCaprio, Damon, Bono, Sorvino, More At The New York Premiere Of "The Departed"

• U2
• The Rolling Stones
• Lou Reed